Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 304: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will change the regulations to permit the landing of monkfish, with appropriate notification to the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority, in the home port of the fishing vessel owner as well as at designated ports in view of the huge inconvenience and cost to many fishermen resulting from the present system. [22134/08]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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The landing of monkfish is currently allowed in the following designated ports Greencastle, Killybegs, Ros an Mhíl, An Daingean, Castletownbere, Union Hall, Ringaskiddy in the Port of Cork, Dunmore East, Kilmore Quay, Rosslare Harbour and Howth. At the request of industry my department is currently preparing a Statutory Instrument that will add Kinsale and Schull to this list.

The rationale behind port designation is to provide a system whereby landings of certain fish species may be better validated through effective monitoring and inspection. The legislation is predicated on the premise that effective control and monitoring of fish landings can be achieved where fishing vessels are obliged to land their catches into a restricted number of ports thereby allowing the control services in these Member States to have appropriate resources in place to effectively control and monitor the fish landings.

Allowing vessels to land monkfish in their home ports would effectively nullify the designated port system and would undermine previous commitments, given to the EU Commission in the wake of infringement proceedings against Ireland, to strengthening our fisheries control regime.

Notwithstanding that, the entire system of designated ports is currently being reviewed by the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority in consultation with industry representatives and my department. The aim of this review is to create a more effective and efficient system that would maximise the number of ports to be designated while allowing the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority to deliver effective control in line with Ireland's obligations under the Common Fisheries Policy.